Relation between popular culture and advertising: Valentine's Day in the print ads

Mass media plays a rather important role in formation and sustainment of consumer culture. As a prominent one of these media, advertising is in the position of carrier of the consumer culture as well as its constituent role. Open to the effects of popular culture, this mass medium has a structure which is influenced by the consequences of consumer culture. As is, far from being a commercial relation between producer and consumer, advertising affects social structure and culture using signs molded together with popular culture and consumer culture. Special days which have the potential of consumption are popularised by means of advertisements and fictionalized as consumption period. One of the special days in which consumption rates reach to the highest levels is Valentine's Day, which is the subject of study of this thesis. An utopia of a world is presented to the consumers where loving and being loved may be possible through consuming by creating a consumption rush in respect of Valentine's Day with the words and signs used in print advertisements. In this context, my thesis study discusses the relationship between advertising and popular culture specific to Valentine's Day and aims to disclose how readers are manipulated into consumption through signs and myths in the text of print advertisements. This thesis study titled as "Relation Between Popular Culture and Advertising: Valentine's Day in the Print Ads" has been conducted with the intention of revealing relation between popular culture and advertising. In the first part of the thesis consisting of two parts; popular culture, consumer culture, advertising, semiotics, myth relations are discussed in the light of theoretical knowledge attained through literature review. In the second part of the thesis, print ads in the top ten bestselling newspapers published between the dates of February 1 and February 15, when amount of ads related to Valentine's Day gain intensity, are analyzed using the methods of content analysis and semiotic analysis. It has been examined in the selected ads that how elements such as love, affection, etc. commonly used in all ads are constructed and popularised so as to increase consumption. Keywords: Popular culture, advertising, consumption culture, Valentine's Day, content analysis, semiotics.